Gazprom Neft, the operator of the Badra oil field in Iraq, has begun testing well Bd4.
After completion of the first stage of experimental work, the well began flowing at a rate of 2000 barrels of oil per day.
A total of seven tests are scheduled at the site, six of which will concentrate on the productivity protential of each individual horizon, while the seventh test will look at the combined productivity of them all, said the company in a statement.
Gazprom Neft is planning to complete testing of well Bd4, which was drilled to a depth of 4,850 m, by the summer of 2013. Afterwards, the company will begin an experimental program at well Bd5, which has already been drilled.
The company is currently building the field infrastructure required to begin production at the field. and a central gathering facility with a total capacity of 170,000 bpd. The first line of the central gathering facility, which has a capacity of 60,000 bpd will be commissionsed in 2013. The site of a gas collection and processing facility with a capacity of about 1.5 billion cubic meters a year has also been prepared for construction.
A 165-km long oil pipeline is being laid from the Badra field to the Garraf pipeline tie-in point. The connection to the oil trunk pipeline system will take place near the city of Nasiriyah.
“Gazprom Neft is actively preparing to launch full-scale production at the Badra oil field in late 2013. The results of well tests will help us better understand the potential of the field’s pay horizons and finalize the Badra field development plan,” said Gazprom Neft First Deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev.
The company has forecast that by 2017, production will have reached 170,000 barrels of oil per day, approximately 8.5 million tonnes per year.
According to preliminary estimates, the total oil in place at the Badra field amounts to 3 billion barrels, says the company. Gazprom holds a 30% share in the project along with KOGAS (22.5%), Petronas (15%) and TPAO (7.5%). The Iraqi government, represented by the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company (OEC), holds a 25% share.
